UU Theatre Department to Perform Marlowe's Dr. Faustus

URBANA, Ohio (November 8, 2012) - Urbana University Theatre Department will perform Christopher Marlowe’s 1604 classical play, The Tragicall History of Dr. Faustus, which explores the struggle between good and evil on Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. at the Hub.

Up to 40 seats can be reserved for each performance by calling 484-1409 or stopping at the Swedenborg Memorial Library. Others will be on a first come first seated basis. Ticket prices are $3.00 except for Urbana University students with a current ID who will be admitted for free. Reserved tickets can be picked up at the Hub between 7:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. on show nights. Other seating will be given on a first come, first served basis each night beginning at 7:30 p.m. Unclaimed reserved seats will be released to those on the wait list at 7:50 p.m.

The Tragicall History of Dr. Faustus is as relevant today as it was four hundred years ago when it was written by Christopher Marlowe and performed in the Rose Theatre in England. University students under the stage direction of Margaret Piatt and technical direction of Michael Hurwitz have captured the essence of the Elizabethan stage in the black box theatre and have added a few new elements to engage modern audiences.

The title role of the professor John Faustus will be played by one of our English professors, Tom Smith. Faustus engages in a cat and mouse game for his soul with Mephistophilis played by Kevin Horrigan, an accomplished local actor, UU adjunct professor, and the minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Urbana. Each character is encouraged in his struggle by angels, demons, illusions, and mortals played by a company of twenty-two students who perform multiple roles as was done by 17th century London theatre troupes. The tragedy is lightened by comic scenes involving slapstick and pantomime and heightened by music and special effects. An additional ten students have worked behind-the-scenes.